The Central Park Five Reviews

The story of the five teenagers who were picked up in Central Park, charged with rape, and convicted based on suspect confessions, then freed after serving years in jail when DNA evidence identified the real rapist. A frightening reminder that whenever there's a horrible crime, society demands that someone must pay, and you don't want to be the one in the wrong place at the wrong time. NEVER TALK TO THE POLICE DURING AN INVESTIGATION WITHOUT A LAWYER PRESENT.

"The Central Park Five" is a heartbreaking and powerful documentary about five teenagers, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Kharey Wise and Yusef Salaam who were falsely convicted in the rape and assault of Trisha Meili in Central Park on April 19, 1989. As District Attorney Robert Morgenthau puts it, if only they had known then what they later knew when the youths were exonerated. But here is the rub. The correct evidence was there, if only they had wanted to look for it. Instead, there was a rush to judgment by the police in coercing their confessions and later in the press, which the documentary painstakingly details with a thoroughly credible timeline of events. Later, you can see how their lives were adversely affected, as Richardson's sister points out that they are as much victims as Meili.

Whereas it is safe to say that New York City has changed dramatically over the decades, it is not quite as "The Central Park Five" alleges, barely glancing over the changes in the police department, along with perceptions that go beyond just those concerning race. For example, Meili felt comfortable enough to jog in the park after dark, as Central Park has always been less a sacred space as Koch testifies(It's neat that he allows to be interviewed here, considering his past intemperate comments. It would have been nice to have gotten other officials on the record to see how some of them sleep at night.), than a commons for all of the city's people to enjoy, even as the documentary via the tabloids of the day would say otherwise.(Not to be facetious but there are two ways I can tell a neighborhood is safe: joggers and dog walkers.) By the way, the only thing stopping New York State getting the death penalty at the time was Mario Cuomo's courageous annual veto.

In typical Ken Burns fashion, we have a magnificently laid out documentary that is not only the story of five innocent teenagers but the history of a City and its rough and tumble period during the eighties. Excellent.

Excellent expose about how politics and race relations can make our justice system run off the rails. I hope these guys find justice in the future.

"Justice is blind" isn't supposed to mean this. As documentaries are supposed to make a viewer think and ponder and wait and think some more, The Central Park Five succeeds on that front while also making one's blood begin to boil. This is a documentary about a wrongly-convicted set of innocents who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time ... and who also happened to be the wrong color (uhm, they won't say it; but ...). Based upon the infamous 1989 jogger rape case in New York City's Central Park in which a white woman was beaten, bound, raped and left for dead; Central Park Five is about five young boys between the ages of 14-17 (all having a darker skin tone) who were coerced into giving false statements as New York detectives, police and attorneys wanted a closed-door case to establish that NYC was toughening-up on crime (per beloved mayor Ed Koch). That their (coerced) false testimonies didn't even match up and NO DNA linked a single one of them to the crime scene, their skin tone was enough to convince the powers that be that they were guilty (because they had been causing trouble elsewhere in the Park that night ... and actually at the EXACT same time the woman was raped). Much like the West Memphis Three case, this is yet another example of justice being blind. One of the more interesting elements of the Ken Burns film to me was seeing his portrait/story of 1980s NYC and how night/day different it is compared to the city of today. While some things have changed, others have remained the same.

Five innocent boys convicted for a crime they didn't commit. Incredible documentary. Must-see.

There are many documentaries about innocent men is prison but CP5 distinguishes itself as a portrait of New York, A City so bent on being safe that they've placed the innocent in danger.

Essential documentary about five teenagers of colour who were wrongly convicted for the brutal rape of a white, upper class jogger in Central Park in 1989. This was one of the biggest crime stories in the media ever. I was about the same age as the boys convicted in 1989 and I remember it well. This movie, possibly more than any other, shows how powerfully media can affect our consciousness and perceptions and what an insidious role it can play in our lives. An absolutely heart-wrenching and infuriating story of injustice. A must see.

A great documentary by Ken Burns about the Central Park gang rape case in eighties New York. Under pressure to make an arrest, NY police charge 5 teens with no DNA evidence. Burns takes a look at the toll taken on all involved in the case.

Its a shame to ever jump to conclusions.

Great lesson about Miranda rights, how corrupt police organizations can be, the importance of teaching our youth honesty, and how broken our press really is.

A harrowing tale of a miscarriage of justice.

Everything a documentary should be, informative, interesting, but not much more than that. It's a good documentary but not a great one.

4/17/13 Ken Burns always does good work. This is a fascinating story, and you have to feel for these kids that lost a huge chunk of their lives. I feel this doc drags on a bit at times, so that is why I gave it a pretty average rating.

A compelling documentary that sheds light on questionable interviewing tactics used by the NYPD to quickly close a rape case which lead to the wrongful conviction of 5 children.

Ken Burns does it again.

Disconcerting & sad, but interesting.... amazing how racism blinds seemingly bright people from the most basic obvious facts.

I think everyone should watch it. And the City should settle up.

Important and enraging documentary about the "Central Park Jogger" case. Well made and researched ( from what I remember having lived in NY at the time). This film is a must see.

My heart hurt from the opening scene until the credits started rolling at the end. What an atrocity. Thank you Ken Burns et al for not letting this story be swept under the rug.